I think one of the best ways of giving someone a "feel" for a country is through poetry. I take poetry to be direct speech that does not require the willing suspension of belief as fiction does. I live in rural Nakhonsawan and this poem might give a sense of poverty (made worse now by floods and drought). English speakers teaching here might like a place for poetry. I would love to talk to anyone.

The Persistence of Poverty

The irrigation canal,

As big as a New England river, slides by

Across the street from the clutch of houses

Where ours stands in a sad jungle

Worn thread bare by generations

Of impoverished cousins who live

In corrugated sheds that build heat

During the day which only a Puritan or

A Swede might relish or survive.

Man made, it looks to be a river

A child might draw: green grassy

Banks and tame water whose surface

Level is unnervingly close to the road’s

Gray tar. White cows with cocker spaniel

Ears graze the banks while birds with

Paper-white wings perch bareback upon them

In a symbiotic relationship which must have started

Close to the first cymbal clash of time.

But at night, women start unimaginative

Trash fires that smolder and smoke

On the banks but never become a blaze,

For this is not a child’s drawing

But a persistent land of poverty that

Water can neither erode nor fire burn.

FG 2008

Nice thought and aspiration...Read some of the Thai poets.. a bit different conceptually.

My reading of Thai is at the decoding stage. Translators often put their own spin on things. It looks to me that poetry is not central to Thai culture or Thai thought (or lack thereof). Dunno. Of course poetry in the west has become a collegial affair and inaccessible, so it's not much better..

Forrest,

Actually, I use poetry in my classes for speaking development.. word and phrase stress, understanding of the line or stanza.... Then of course, I have the use acrostic poem with as many poetic devices we study.. They seem to have fun with this.. Lastly, I give the students CD project to intrepret the poem of 25 lines of less.. The work has been great..

Also. check out Poetry Out Loud.. the contest.. this is an excellent resource and program.. I have used it and it works..

Cheers